Description
Zaandam is a hand-painted reproduction of Monet’s canvas in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris: a broad stretch of water fills the lower part and reflects the sky, a large building with a small turret and a tall pointed church spire stand on the far bank at the left, a row of tall trees rises above a grassy bank on the right, and behind them stand green houses with red roofs. The original measures 73 x 47.8 cm, is oil on canvas, dates from 1871 and carries inventory number RF 1673. We paint it in eight sizes or to your own, with a photograph of the finished work sent for approval before dispatch.
| Title: | Zaandam |
| Other titles: | Zaandam ; Canal en Hollande (title in the museum record) |
| Painter: | Claude Monet (1840–1926) |
| Year painted: | 1871 |
| Original size: | 73 cm x 47.8 cm |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Impressionism |
| Located at: | Musée d’Orsay, Paris (inv. RF 1673) |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, eight sizes or made to measure |
Zaandam – Claude Monet
What is on the canvas?
A town by the water under a cloudy sky. Blue sky with many white clouds fills the upper half of the canvas. Below, calm water runs the full width, painted in horizontal strokes of blue, grey and ochre, in which the sky, the trees and the spire repeat.
On the far bank at the left stands a large building with a dark roof and a small turret on top, a tall pointed church spire to its right, and dark trees around them. On the right a grassy bank rises with a row of tall trees in yellowish and green leaves, and behind the trunks stand green houses with red roofs and pointed gables. Short landing stages reach into the water along the bank, and a small dark boat lies out on the water near the far bank.
When was it painted?
The museum’s record dates the canvas 1871, without reservation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art dates another Monet canvas to the same year, Houses on the Achterzaan, which is described below.
What does the museum record say about the work?
The work is held by the Musée d’Orsay in Paris under inventory number RF 1673. It gives the size height first, 47.8 by 73 cm, and gives no size with the frame. The technique is given as oil on canvas. The title in the museum’s record reads Zaandam ; Canal en Hollande, that is Zaandam and canal in Holland: the museum lists the canvas under both names.
How did the canvas reach the museum?
The museum gives a single entry: »Donation Etienne Moreau-Nelaton, 1906«, a gift from Étienne Moreau-Nélaton in 1906. That is the way it was acquired, not a chain of owners, so we write no provenance section here.
The Musée d’Orsay records the same 1906 gift for four more canvases we sell: Le Pavé de Chailly, RF 1672, which it dates »vers 1865«, Carrières-Saint-Denis, RF 1674, of 1872, Still Life with Meat, RF 1675, which it dates »vers 1864«, and Poppies near Argenteuil, RF 1676, of 1873. Among them Zaandam is RF 1673.
A second canvas of 1871
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York holds a canvas dated 1871, Houses on the Achterzaan, oil on canvas, 67.3 x 44.1 cm, credited Robert Lehman Collection, 1975. Ours is RF 1673 in the Musée d’Orsay, 73 x 47.8 cm; if you are looking for this work in particular, go by that number.
Why does this work matter?
Because it is built from three bands: sky above, water below and the town between them. On the left the town is a low strip from which only the spire rises into the sky; on the right the trees rise almost to the top edge, with the houses standing behind them.
One more Dutch subject is in our collection: Field of Tulips in Holland, which the Musée d’Orsay holds as RF 1944 19 and which dates from 1886. An impressionist painting of this kind tells no story; it holds one bright, cloudy day by the water.
How is our hand-painted version made?
Every order is painted individually by an artist, in oil on cotton or linen. That is how every canvas painting leaves us, with no print and no machine step. This oil painting reproduction is demanding in the water: the reflections are short horizontal strokes that must stay separate, or the water turns into a smooth, still surface.
The second test is the clouds, which must stay soft on the blue ground rather than outlined. A Monet reproduction of this kind depends on the spire and the houses staying small and clear while the water stays alive. Work of this kind will not take a high gloss, so ours is matt. A hand-painted copy is not a facsimile; two canvases of the same size always differ in the brushwork.
Before dispatch you receive a photograph of the finished canvas. Check three things on it: whether the reflections in the water are separate strokes, whether the spire on the left stands clear of the sky, and whether the houses on the right keep their green and red. If any of these is wrong, tell us before you approve the work.
Which size for which wall?
There are eight sizes, from 60 x 39 to 180 x 120 cm. By size the closest to the original is 70 x 45 cm, 3.0 cm narrower and 2.8 cm lower, and at 1.5556 slightly more elongated than the original’s 1.5272. By proportion the closest is 60 x 39 cm at 1.5385, followed by 100 x 66 cm at 1.5152.
If you want nearly the size of the original, take 70 x 45; if you want its shape on a larger wall, 100 x 66. A long, low view of water and sky sits quietly above a bed, which makes this a good painting for the bedroom. All sizes are listed with the product in our Claude Monet gallery.
Light matters as much as size. The canvas is built from blue sky and the warm ochres of the bank, so it looks best in daylight or warm light; under cold light the bank loses its warmth. Hang it so that the far bank sits at about eye level.
Custom size, stretcher bar and frame
For a size not on the list, made to measure is the only route; send us the width and height and we keep the proportion of the original. The canvas is stretched on a wooden bar. A frame is not included; the museum publishes no size with the frame.
Delivery and guarantee
Making it takes two to three weeks, a few days more at the largest sizes. It arrives stretched on its bar in a rigid box, or rolled in a tube, with tracking. If it arrives damaged or differs noticeably from the approved photograph, we replace it or refund. Small differences in the brushwork are expected in handwork; damage is not.
If the painting is a gift and you are unsure of the size, there is a voucher: the recipient chooses the size and the subject.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the original?
In Paris, at the Musée d’Orsay, inventory number RF 1673.
What year is it from?
1871. The museum and Wikidata both give that year.
What does it show?
A town beside a broad stretch of water under a cloudy sky: a building and a spire on the left, trees and green houses with red roofs on the right.
Can you visit the places Monet painted in Zaandam?
Yes. The Monet Atelier in Zaandam is devoted to his 1871 stay, shows copies of his Zaandam paintings and runs talks and guided walks to the spots where he painted.
- Subject. A broad stretch of water under a cloudy sky, a building and a spire on the left, trees and green houses with red roofs on the right.
- Original. Oil on canvas, 73 x 47.8 cm, 1871; Musée d’Orsay, Paris, inv. RF 1673.
- Ours. Eight sizes; 70 x 45 cm is closest by size, 60 x 39 cm by proportion.
- Worth knowing. The Musée d’Orsay received this canvas in 1906 as a gift from Étienne Moreau-Nélaton, by its own records together with four more canvases from our collection.
